Vintage News, Links & Inspiration Of The Week

It's that time again, here are my picks for the Vintage News, Links & Inspiration Of The Week. Catch last week's if you missed it. Also remember you can always send me tips or links to my email, thriftaholic (at) yahoo.com
There are a variety of reasons why collectors seek out antique photos and vintage snapshots: artistic merit, historical value and the hotness of its subjects? The owner of the My Daguerreotype Boyfriend Tumblr Blog, whose tagline is "Where Early Photography Meets Extreme Hotness", posts pre-WWII photographs of handsome and dapper gentleman on a daily basis.
It's my dream to some day crisscross the world, vintage shopping along the way. Thus far I've only thrifed in the U.S., Montreal, Canada and the Philippines, so I was happy to come across Defining Tabitha's blog post about vintage shopping in Amsterdam. I'm always excited when international blogs post photos of their vintage adventures, this week A Harem of Peacocks blog posted a mini tour of antique shops in the city of Lincoln, England.
A little closer to home, Refinery 29's editor hosted a visual tour of thrift stores in New York City. She highlighted some of my favorites including Vintage Thrift. I'd also recommend going to The Garage Flea Market in Chelsea and just walking to the thrift stores located just across the street.
Of course Portland would be home to mobile vintage stores: Lodekka is located in a 2-decker bus and Wanderlust is located in a 1969 travel trailer. The Poppytalk blog recently took a peek into Wanderlust; the shop surprisingly packs a lot of goodies into such a small space. Also check out Poppytalk's tour of Lodekka.
In a tale that sounds like it's straight out Antiques Roadshow, the Bopfish blog stumbles upon a signed Picasso print at his local thrift store in Ohio. I'm definitely inspired to take a closer look in the thrift store art section from now on.
The Lens Blog highlighted the contributions of women to The Photo League, a camera club/art photography organization based in NYC during the 1930s-1951. Work from the League is currently being exhibited in 3 different venues and the Lens blog got a chance to speak to several of the female photographers, who are now in their 90s.

Bakelite has legions of fans and collectors but other 20th Century Plastics have typically been undervalued and underappreciated. My friend Katherine Raz of Backgarage has been leading the fight to recognize the ingenuity and possibilities of the medium and tipped me off to this extensive collection posted on Flickr. The items range from radios to glasses frames but all are well designed, durable and colorful.
The Country Living Magazine has an entire section on its website dedicated to Antiques and Collectibles and regularly post photo slideshows of collections including vintage rhinestone jewelry and collectible vintage swimsuits.
I grew up reading Penguin books so was excited to see someone had taken the time to scan over 400 of Penguin's classic, well-designed covers from the 1960s and 1970s. Peruse the cover art on Flickr.
While I'm an avid fan of "Mad Men" I have yet to check out "Downton Abbey" but hope to remedy this soon. In the meantime I checked out The Smithsonian Museum's blog post, "Downton Abbey and the Dollar Princesses", that delves into the lives of the real women who inspired the TV show's characters.

Have you ever peered into a vintage cookbook? I collect them for the adorable illustrations and color photos but have yet to make any of the recipes contained within them. The Aspic and Other Delights Tumblr Blog celebrates the zaniest and often most disgusting dishes found within the pages of 1950s, 60s and '70s cookbooks.
On the flip side, The Vintage Bazaar offered a round up of 5 ways to create edible versions of these vintage delights with Vintage Recipe Update: Jell-O Salads and Vintage Recipe Update: The Casserole.
The Washington Post newspaper sponsored a contest for "Mad Men" (Mid Century Modern) inspired interiors. Check out the 5 finalists and related post, "Washington's Mid-century modern buildings: Lovely or ugly?".
There's really a collector for everything-- this week I came across a website dedicated to Do Not Disturb Signs, the door hangers used primarily in hotels. The site, a project of two passionate collectors based in different parts of the world, highlights the beauty of the utilitarian item.
Peruse over 80 years worth of French fashion history in the online archives of The Official, a luxury magazine published in over 70 countries (sadly not in the U.S.).